Apple's '949 multitouch patent tentatively declared invalid by USPTO

The US Patent and Trade Office has made a preliminary ruling that U.S. Patent No. 7,479,949 (AKA the "Steve Jobs" multitouch patent) is invalid on all 20 points. The '949 patent is considered to be the key patent in all claims of multitouch infringement, and is one of the broader patents that some feel should have never been granted,
It's also one of the patents Apple asserted against Motorola in a case thrown out this past June. In that case, a federal judge dismissed the suit, stating that large parts of the patent in question were invalid in his opinion. It appears that at some level, the USPTO agrees.
Before people get too excited and pop a cork, know that this is just the first step and may very well be overturned higher up the USPTO ladder. Stranger things than the government not listening to the experts they have hired have certainly happened before.

Via: FOSS Patents

Via: Apple's '949 multitouch patent tentatively declared invalid by USPTO